From Kathmandu, I was due to fly to Bangkok, visit Maria
(fellow African trucker) and then the vague plan was to head north by train and
work my way to Luang Prabang (Laos) via the slow boat. These plans were however rendered useless by
the floods in Bangkok. This became
apparent on the Wednesday I arrived in Lhasa but as I had booked my flight with
Nepal Airlines and it was Diwali and then Saturday (non-working day in Nepal),
changing the ticket with the Nepali travel agent took a lot longer than
expected. Finally on Sunday afternoon my
Monday flight was changed and my new destination was Kuala Lumpur on an
overnight flight.
It felt time to leave Nepal. After the freezing temperatures in Tibet and
the subsequent chilly weather in Nagarkot (lovely place 1 ½ hours outside
Kathmandu), it was time to find some warmth, guaranteed hot showers and clean
toilets. After a chaotic check-in (everyone
tells you to avoid Nepal Airlines – more for the disorganisation rather than
any safety problems – but they are half the price of Thai Air!), Nepal Airlines
came up trumps and upgraded me to business class.
Landing into Kuala Lumpur was like entering a forgotten
universe – air conditioning, clean toilets, road lane markings… I am a city girl at heart and enjoyed my two
days in KL wandering around, indulging in a little clothing and nice toiletry
shopping and varying my diet to include properly cooked pasta and eggs
Benedict. I rode the monorail and
prepared to head off to Penang by train.
The weather was most definitely a lot warmer (and humid) but as it is
monsoon season here, every afternoon was livened up by a big thunderstorm. I’ve always loved a good thunderstorm (these
competed well with hols in the Dordogne in the 1980s) and enjoyed my first KL
one whilst having afternoon tea on a covered outdoor terrace.
A very uneventful 7 ½ hour train journey took me from KL
to Butterworth. From the train station
you can walk directly to the ferry which will take you to Georgetown, Penang
for the pricely sum of 25p. The ferries
run every 10 mins or so and take no time at all. In the end I stayed for five days in Penang
pottering around the old town looking into all the workshops, visiting the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion and
jumping on the bus up to the beach at Batu Ferringhi. I did do a cookery course (#1 thing to do on Trip
Advisor, chef had made TV appearances..) which I looked forward to telling you
all about. Alas, it was largely
underwhelming and so there is little to recount. The weather precluded much else and there is
a limit to how many shopping centres a girl wants to visit.
A three hour ferry carried me up to Langkawi Island to
laze by the beach for a few days. After
day one, the weather was generally kind to me and I enjoyed some long sunny
days reading by the sea & the pool as well as doing a little island hopping. I found a fab spot at Frangipani Beach to sip
a Tiger beer and watch the sun set. Whilst
lovely, my budget on Langkawi couldn’t afford me a dreamy bungalow on a beach
and so it seemed like time to move on.
Singapore had never been on the agenda but the flight
times and prices to Siem Reap with Silk Air made the most sense and so I
decided to spend two days in the “clean” city.
I will admit to a few prejudices before arriving – that it would be too
clean and boring. I’m happy to admit
that I warmed to Singapore very much and took advantage of being in a big city
by going to the National Museum, both the cinema and theatre (Indian dance performance) and
partaking in a very pleasant Tanqueray Ten Sling at the Long Bar at Raffles.
Have to dash, boarding for my flight to Siem Reap is
being called. Angkor Wat awaits…
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